Assessment monitoring of watershed management to reduce risk disaster and community adaptation to climate change in Pasak River basin area, Thailand

Abstract

This qualitative study was conducted to assessment monitoring of watershed management to reduce disaster risks and community adaption to climate changes in Pasak river basin. This study also employed participatory action research methods. The locale of the study was Pong sub-district, Loei province. Research instruments were observation form, data recording form, and an in-depth interview conducted with a target group of 105 peoples obtained by purposive sampling. Results of the study were the following: Almost all of the informants were engaged in agriculture with ginger and maize growing. Most of the informants migrated from neighboring provinces, aged between 41-50 years and had problems in water management as  a high investment expense on bringing water up to the agricultural areas; unable to use groundwater; and surfaced soil erosion. However, some natural water sources can be utilized during the rainy season. Therefore, the community tried to solve these problems by keeping water in big containers, building cluck-dams, and digging a big pond for public use. Regarding the past Pasak river basin management, there was a basin management policy mostly focused on check-dam construction and emphasized utilization rather than natural resource conservation. It was observed that community participation in the conservation was rather little and not consistent with the development plan of concerned agencies. The following were management guideline gained from the study: 1) coordination of all parties in preparing a strategy on the improvement of the eco-agricultural area which was consistent with the area condition of each farmer; 2) support on in-depth eco-agriculture guidelines for the adaptation to global warming condition and natural calamity; and 3) using the public policy to solve the problem in natural resources/environment and disaster Pasak river watershed area based on community and concerned party participation for sustainable utilization.